A whole slew of new information on the upcoming Square-Disney RPG Kingdom Hearts has been released, building up anticipation for the game soon before its Japanese release. A host of new Disney characters have been revealed to be in the game: Genie, Aladdin, and Jafar (from Disney's Aladdin) will reside in Arabian Town, and Jack, Zero, Sally, Oogie Boogie, and Dr. Finklestein (from The Nightmare Before Christmas) will make their home in the previously mentioned Halloween Town. New enemies will reside in each of these locations, with pirates appearing in Arabian Town and zombies in Halloween Town.

The game will use a system for learning skills that should remind players of the Ability system in Final Fantasy IX, where characters learn abilities through the items they equip. It appears that some of these abilities can be used outside of battles and the menu screen; for instance, characters can get to previously unreachable locations with the Trinity ability, which will cause the party members to climb on top of each other. The Gummi Ship, a device allowing the characters to visit different towns and areas, will be available to the player by collecting a construction diagram and Gummi Blocks found in various locations in the game. It appears that magic will be received through the destruction of boss characters, and the magic will become stronger the more often it is used. Kingdom Hearts is slated for a March 28th release in Japan, priced at 6800 yen (about $52.00), and should arrive in North America sometime this fall.